There’s no guarantee the rest of the league operates in the same way as Jones, but it was interesting to see how the Cowboys broke down and structured their board.

Teams don’t just rank players 1-300 and make their picks using a giant list. They identify and shortlist the players they’re willing to take in the first, second, third round (etc). You might only have 15-20 first round grades come draft day. Players are taken off the board too for a multitude of reasons — injury, character, scheme fit.

Dallas traded down from the #18 pick and selected a player they graded as a second round prospect (Travis Frederick) with the #31 pick in 2013. By the time they were on the clock — all of their first round players had been drafted.

It made me realise that there’s every chance Seattle drafts a player with a second round grade at #32. Unless they’ve given out 32 or more first round grades it could be pretty likely.

I tried to put together a version of Dallas’ board for Seattle. I only included first and second round picks because let’s be right — who can project beyond that with this team? (see: Luke Willson)

I also don’t have any deluded expectations that this is similar to the real thing. The Seahawks love to think outside of the box and they love explosive players with major potential. They also have ways of doing things that just aren’t predictable. I think they thrive on being able to keep people guessing. But I wanted to compile the list anyway if only to show what it might look like.

The names in red are players with injury records who haven’t been totally taken off the board. In 2010 I believe they had a second round grade on Walter Thurmond but took him in round four. So while Dominique Easley is graded in round one here — it doesn’t necessarily mean they’d draft him that early.

Here’s a position-by-position breakdown:

Quarterbacks
Johnny Manziel gets a first round grade for his competitive spirit and field-tilting ability. If they needed a quarterback I think they’d see Manziel as a potential point guard and difference maker. I’m not convinced they’d draft Blake Bortles or Teddy Bridgewater in round one. Seahawks fans should be grateful they don’t have to debate this position over the next few years.

Running backs
It’s not a great class for running backs and I didn’t feel the need to include any here. The Seahawks are set with a proven starter (Marshawn Lynch), a capable backup (Robert Turbin) and an X-factor with the potential to one day become one of the NFL’s best playmakers (Christine Michael). Which back in this class gets even a second round grade from this team?

Wide receivers
I noted eight receivers with a first round grade. This is the position of strength in round one. I truly believe there’s a chance they’ll see Cody Latimer as the 4th or 5th best receiver in this draft with a firm round one grade. Donte Moncrief is exactly the type of explosive athlete they love to develop. Kelvin Benjamin looks like one of Pete Carroll’s ‘big men’ and deserves to be listed here. I tried to be conservative with this position and still came up with eight names in round one. Davante Adams, Martavis Bryant and Brandon Coleman could be options at #32 if the board falls a certain way. I’d say Allen Robinson and Jordan Matthews are more likely to be considered at #64. I wanted to include Jarvis Landry — but I think this team will give him a third round grade at best.

Tight end
This is pretty straight forward. Eric Ebron gets the only first round grade. The other three big name tight ends are slated as round two picks.

Offensive linemen
This includes guards and tackles. Joel Bitonio and Morgan Moses both look like realistic options for Seattle in round one. I’m going to assume none of the other first round names fall anywhere close to #32. If the top prospects are all gone they could consider dipping into their second round options (again, depending on how the board falls elsewhere). This was a hard position to grade because there are players like Billy Turner or Laurent Duvernay-Tardif who could get high grades based on appealing physical attributes. Is either player likely to be graded in round two? Perhaps not. I think they’ll really like Bitonio and that’s why he’s down as the #4 tackle/guard here.

Defensive end/tackle
Not a lot of depth this year. I didn’t include Timmy Jernigan because for me he’s a third round prospect and I’m not sure Seattle will disagree with that. Anthony Barr, Demarcus Lawrence and Marcus Smith aren’t 4.5 runners but all have nice 10-yard splits and could be considered at #32. Dominique Easley gets the red font due to injury concerns. This means he’s a first round level talent who hasn’t been taken off the board — but the round you take him in will be impacted due to the health issues. When do you roll the dice? Brent Urban, one of my favourite players in the whole draft, gets a second round grade.

Linebacker
Unless Ryan Shazier falls to #32 — I think this is an area they’ll wait on until UDFA.

Cornerback
Opinions are all over the place on this cornerback group. For me none of them are worth genuine first round grades. Bradley Roby would be highest on my board due to potential. If I really needed a corner in round one he would be me guy. But the Seahawks don’t really need a corner and they are comfortable enough developing players taken later in the draft. Justin Gilbert’s tape is all over the place and while he has the length, speed and playmaking ability this team covets — they also appreciate disciplined, structured cornerback play that screams preparation. Gilbert wings it way too much for a high grade. I know a lot of people think he’ll go in the top half of round one. I might be wrong, but that’ll surprise me.

Safety
I don’t expect the Seahawks to draft a safety early. So although Ha Ha Clinton-Dix gets an early grade it’s just a token gesture. The Mark Barron talk in 2012 was a little overblown and probably shouldn’t be used to make ‘safety’ an annual early-round option for Seattle. Firstly, he was never falling to the #12 pick — whether they liked him or not. Secondly, none of the players in this class play like Barron.

Whether this list is fairly accurate, highly inaccurate or somewhere in between — this is what it comes down to. The Seahawks are probably going to look at WR, OT and DL early in this draft at #32 and #64. Unless a rare athlete like Ryan Shazier drops, there aren’t many alternatives.

Chris Maragos replacement?

Heading out to Seattle to visit with the Seahawks… Can't wait to talk football with the coaches… #LOB

Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri is the latest player to visit the Seahawks. He’s likely an UDFA prospect — but I can’t help but feel he’d make a nice replacement for Chris Maragos as a backup safety and special teams demon.

30 players to attend NFL Draft

The NFL has released a list of 30 players who have agreed to attend the 2014 NFL draft in New York:

You talk about players before the “experts” do. I have seen some “experts” talk about D. Lawrence in the 4th and M. Smith in the 7th. Those are possible 1st and no later than early 3rd round guy. Crazy. Glad we have all your info here Rob

Rob, sorry I didn’t clearly explain. It was pretty short list of players you preferred over other players. It answered the question of, “if player A and player B were available, which one would you pick.”

I will find it and post it here soon.

It is really interesting to note how other teams, like the Cowboys, set up their draft boards.

PC/JS are totally unique. What other teams set up their draft boards at least semi comparable to the Hawks?

Anybody who has incredibly gifts physically is a red flag to be drafted by the Hawks. I think Pete and John firmly believe they can coach up guys with the physical talent, but maybe not the stats or polish to be taken highly. It’s a big reason I believe guys like Sherm, Maxwell and Kam have all become studs at this level- Pete and the guys will teach them what they need to know.

Rob, you have studied PCJS well and your board probably looks a great deal like theirs….I suspect that the Seahawks might have a first round grade on Tuitt (bigger/faster/stronger); also it is entirely possible that they could place the R1 grade on even more WRs, the position is so loaded: Adams, Robinson and maybe even Bryant. I suspect they do have a R1 grade on Roby and Gilbert, based on elite measurables. And finally, I will have to respectfully disagree with your assessment of XSF. You win championships with guys like this, leadership, character, competitiveness, excellent quickness, effort and technique….when he adds 15 lbs of muscle, he will have a complete game….and my guess is that the Seahawks do indeed have a R1 grade on him. LDT, the Canadian OT, has the sparq scores to be graded R2.

Su’a-Filo for me looked more and more average the more tape I watched. The Stanford game in particular bothered me. A guard who struggles in basic pass pro isn’t really what this team lacks. And I’m not convinced the Seahawks will ever give a first round grade to a pure guard unless they’re a really top drawer player.

Re Vinnie Sunseri of Alabama, I would love to see him brought aboard, even with the R6 pick. His knee injury cost the Crimson Tide the championship this year, as he would have run their D from his safety position and controlled the Auburn wing-t offense. He ran a 4.5 at his pro day, showing he has recovered well from his surgery, so he has the speed to back up Earl at FS, and has the rare smarts and leadership to fill the role if need be, and could even captain the special teams….he is that good.

Hi, so do teams like the Seahawks at the bottom still list guys they have no chance of lasting to their pick? I realize guys fall, but would the Seahawks have had someone like Andrew Luck or JaDaveon Clowney on their board when there is no chance they draft them? Thanks

“As a team, you need to be prepared for all the top players. I have witnessed too many situations where a quality player everybody thought was going higher fell to a team that was unprepared for that specific scenario. Because the team didn’t spend the necessary time talking about the player, they decided to pass. Their excuse: “Something must be wrong with him.”” – Jerry Angelo, from this article:

Rob – Any chance you’ve had an opportunity to look at Matt Patchan OT out of Boston College? He’s one of the more athletic tackles and I could really see the Seahawks grading him as a second round RT with injury risk (somewhat akin to Easley here).

Rob, thanks for all your work on providing this site. I visit often and it’s the basis for most of my personnel and draft related thoughts.

Only 24 players with a first round grade for the hawks. I wonder how many of the other teams have players graded first round?

Hope Moncreif falls and he is the pick…then Coleman and Bryant. I bet we move on a playmaker early.

The alternative plan could be they highly regard either Tuitt or Marcus Smith, we saw this year how important defensive line depth is to winning a championship.

You may deduce i’m not one pining for a offensive lineman in the first. I could see a scenario as things stand now where the O-line improved next year, and the d-line takes a slight step back ( depending on our youthful reserves there)

Sounds like Pryor will be developed as a QB with a few gadget plays to get him on the field. Excitin

I’d wet my pants if Latimer/James fell to us in the first two rounds. I just have a feeling the picks are going to be two guys we haven’t even discussed. They unpredictablity of Pete and John is the only thing predictable about them.

Although u could argue that with Bowie/Bailey, JeanPierre, and now Schilling, VanRoten…we have quality depth at OL. Plus Rice, enough WR depth. Allowing an exciting gamble first 2 picks such as Easley and then Lawrence/Smith.

Looking at this list of 24 1st round candidates i wonder about the 8 players that are not on that list and should be picked by other teams so we have a shot on at least one of those guys. It might be a good idea to do a list of none Seahawks candidates for 1st round.

After your last horror mocks were all our candidates are gone i’m wondering if a small trade of a few places may not be the smart way to secure a quality pick if things start going bad during the first round. If we do not see at least 5 none seahawks guys gone by the early 20’s we should consider it. We really need to nail those first 2 picks.

Really just goes back to the idea that boards can vary really widely, and there are 32 of them in play. Of course having 32 of them in play makes it a lot less likely that something like this happens – I totally believe there are GMs out there with an R3/R4 grade on Lattimer. I do not believe there are 32 of them.

Here’s my theory-The Seahawks fall in love with players that normally don’t fall at the top of other team’s draft boards. They were sold on Bruce as the top edge rusher and said C-Mike was the top player on their board last year. I have this hunch we’re going Easley. When healthy this guy is a beast, he stands out. I feel like they look at this guy and say he’s the best 3-tech when healthy. He can be better than Aaron Donald. There’s the Donte Moncrief’s/ Cody Latimer’s of the world, they’re good, but do they stand out and separate themselves from others at their position? Having a hard time phrasing this, but I feel the Seahawks are going to draft a player a lot of people are overlooking, yet can make a claim as the best player at his position when all is said and done. Rob, keep up the good work, and maybe you can help me out with what I’m trying to say.

“Having a hard time phrasing this, but I feel the Seahawks are going to draft a player a lot of people are overlooking, yet can make a claim as the best player at his position when all is said and done”

I got it completely!

Interesting read George. I agree with your analysis. The thing I love most about our FO is they pick players they WANT/NEED. The unconventionial/outside the box building of this roster has been masterful.

Not every pick has been a success but the pickss of Wilson, Sherman, Maxwell, Chancellor, Wright, Smith and others have more than made up for Moffitts and Harpers.

It doesn’t really seem like PC and j’s have any history of taking guys in the top 2 rounds with significant injury history. If i am not mistaken, C. Michael is the only one, and you are could be talking about a big difference between the kind of player you can get at the beginning and end of round 2… so I’m not sure that I would even include C Mikes selection as argument against my statement about PCJS not taking guys with injury history in this general area…
Shit and then I just remembered Harvin…

I think that you are overlooking one piece of crucial history that is pretty relevant to this subject: PC/JS valued Golden Tate as a first round prospect back in 2010. Now, does that say they had 60 guys with first round grades on them? Not necessarily. They may have made the decision to move down knowing there were enough prospects they liked between pick 40 and pick 60 and that is would be unlikely every team drafting in front of them would draft a player they had rated as a first round prospect. A calculated gamble that they hoped would net them their future franchise QB in Charlie Whitehurst. They could very well have between 40 and 50 players with a first round grade in this draft.

If the first 30 picks were the 30 guys who are attending the draft, that would mean that Mike Evans, Aaron Donald, and Anthony Barr would all three be available when Denver selects at 31, and Seattle would choose from whomever Denver didn’t take. In reality, none of those three will be there.

Joel Bitonio and Donte Moncrief are the other two players Rob has R1 grades on who won’t be attending the draft.

Hmm … you still consider Benjamin an ideal Carroll guy? After reports of how he blew off a personal workout with a coach that had traveled to Florida specifically to interview him because he was tired I’m not sure how ‘Seahawky’ that sounds. For a late round roll of the dice I could see, but as a first round pick I’m not sure Carroll wouldn’t have concerns.

I don’t put any weight into that speculative story. A guy tore his ACL working out for a team two weeks ago on an official visit. For all we know the coach made an unreasonable request right at the end of a session. He goes between 12-22 for me.

Teams always take chances on big receivers in the first round. Especially a playoff team with few holes. Benjamin will be drafted in the first, and I think he’s going to be average at best. I keep hearing Petey saying he wants guys with “grit” – IMO Benjamin isn’t Seahawky to his core.

Not every player on Seattle’s roster though is like Doug Baldwin. Benjamin’s no slouch. He plays with all of the commitment you want. He made basic errors last year but I don’t think anyone can knock his intensity or effort.

If only we knew….answers to the following questions would tell us a lot about how PCJS set their board:

– does John have Avril projected to re-sign? If so, a Leo is low priority; if not, a Leo is needed, despirte Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa. (note: Avril said on KJR this week that Mayowa will be the best DE in the league in a few years! …said he is the best athlete he has seen at the position.)

– do Pete and John believe that Greg Scruggs, Jordan Hill and Jesse Williams can play at the same level as Clint McDonald and Red Bryant? And Mebane may be gone after this season. If Pete is uncomfortable looking long-term at his D-line, look for a DT (Hageman or Tuitt) R1. (btw…how is Jesse’s knee?)

– what does the cornerback chessboard look like? Do they project re-signing Maxwell? Can Lane play CB, or he best at slot? Does Tharold Simon project as an elite starter? If CB projects as a need a year from now…. Gilbert and Roby could go at #32, though I am of the opinion that Gilbert will be long gone (somewhere between 10-19) and Roby will probably be off the board as well. These two guys are not R2 talents….too many skills at a vital position of need for too many teams.

– what do the medical people say about Sidney Rice’s knee? Are they counting on him for significant minutes, or is he here just on an exploratory basis? What do PCJS think of Matthews and Price….are they legit candidates for the 5th WR spot? WR is super-deep in the draft, but if the Seahawks think a guy would only be their #5 WR for the next 2 or 3 years, then they probably won’t invest a R1 pick there. And, would the Seahawks only be interested in a SE, or would they consider a Lee or Adams if they fell to #32?

– finally, what do Pete and Tom Cable think of their O line guys? In theory, the Seahawks are set there. They can only carry about 9 guys, and if they feel good about Okung, Carpenter, Unger, Sweezy, Bowie, Bailey, Jean-Pierre and Hauptmann, then there may be no need to invest a R1 pick there. But if there is real concern about Bowie/Bailey handling ROT, or if they are unsure about Carp long-term, then that will be the R1 pick if Bitonio, Moses or XSF are there. All three of these guys could be plug-and-play if Bowie and Carp are questioned by Cable. Then, do they believe Bitonio has the heft to play ROT (he is about 30 lbs light from the ideal, and most project him better at OG)? Keeping Russell Wilson healthy is the most important aspect of team needs, so logically this is where the pick will be, but if Moses is gone, or if they think Bitonio is too lightweight to play ROT, or they feel OK at guard and are only looking at depth at OT, then they won’t reach at #32.

….these questions are what makes it interesting. I can somewhat project whether a prospect is “Seahawky” or not, but I need a crystal ball to tell me where Pete and John think the needs are.

Good stuff, but I’d caution the idea that any OL at 32 is “plug and play.” After all, we are talking about replacing Carpeneter, who himself was a 1st rounder. Pretty much all of the late R1 OL in that class are either not in the league or are replacement players. If we go OL at 32, I sincerely hope that guy has the potential to play LT.

The article posted this afternoon on Pro Football Talk, that the Seahawks are not likely to pick up Carp’s option for 2015, since the cap hit would exceed $7 million, makes it highly likely in my view that PCJS will go OG at #32, assuming Bitonio or XSF is available. Any other guard prospect would be graded R2 or lower. I certainly wasn’t aware that the cap hit would be so massive…and this information definitely impacts draft projections. No OG is worth $7 million unless playing at the Steve Hutchinson level, and even then, it probably would not work for the Seahawks, with the dollars having to go to Earl, Sherm, Russ, Avril, Wagner, et al.

Rob, which of the punt returners/3rd down backs do you like? I can see the Seahawks using a 4th or 5th for someone who might be something special as a returner replacing Golden Tate or create challenges coming out of the backfield on 3rd down.

I’m thinking of DeAnthony Thomas but I know there are others out there.

I just don’t see a OL being taken at 32. With Carp looking good, Sweezy up to 320 as well, the only position I can see is a starting right tackle. But who in the first plays that? I’m asking because I haven’t researched. It is Moses? Is it Bitonio? Is it XSF?

I have a guy feeling its WR OR DL/DE AT 32, but what makes since to use is usually the total opposite of PC/JS LOL

Just seen on ESPN, some analyst (didn’t catch name or recognize him) thinks Cody Latimar is one of the most under rated players in this draft. Says he studied 5 games and didn’t drop a pass in any of those games. Man I hope he makes it to sea at 32

Could be a long day for Manziel if no one picks him in round one. I think Bortles will go before Manziel based on Bortles being more pro ready and able to make all the throws. On the other hand Manziel is a great leader and makes plays happen but isn’t as accurate.

Interesting the names being invited to the draft. You would think these kind would have fairly good confirmation that they were going to be first round picks. In the past, hasn’t the NFL been restrictive of how many prospects get invited so that no one ends up embarrassed, i.e. not getting drafted in the first round.

Gil Brandt invites the players. I think they branched out the last two drafts in order to get more attendees without specifically expecting the round one guys to all be there. I think they want some drama in the green room.

Last year Geno Smith and Manti Te’o were snubbed on the first day. I think it was Smith that the camera kept panning to as he waited in the audience. It makes for a long embarrassing day if you aren’t picked.

I’ve asked this question before with no response. Does anyone think there’s any chance we pick up Dri Archer just to have more of that elite speed? Maybe use him as a situational change of pace scat back or as a gunner on special teams? He did some really impressive stuff in college and his speed and quickness is off the charts. he did have the best yards per carry average in the history of college football…

I doubt he’s there with the last pick in the 6th. for some reason he screams value. I wouldn’t be surprised if they gave him a look at the last pick of round 4. I’m not sure he wouldn’t be the fastest player in the nfl

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